Master of Spooks
by Drakai
Summary: Given a young Gastly by his dear grandmother on his sixth birthday, Ash Ketchum grows up with a magnificent dream. The dream to be the greatest, most powerful, and most feared Master of Ghost-Type Pokemon. Ooga-booga-booga.


"Grandma!"

It was Ash Ketchum's sixth birthday, most of which he spent in front of the door, waiting for the second most important person in his life (the first, of course, being his mother).

Professor Samuel Oak was there as well, talking to his mother Delia, as well as his grandson Gary, Ash's friend-turned-rival.

Finally, about six o' clock, the door opened to reveal an elderly blonde woman dressed in a dark purple dress, with a cane in her hands. She let out a small groan when the black haired missile slammed into her, but picked him up and gave him a small kiss on his cheek.

"Happy birthday, Ashy."

"Thanks grandma." The boy smiled. "What'd you bring me?"

"Honey, be nice." His mother's voice sounded from the room behind him, scolding him. Delia got up and walked to the two, giving the older woman a warm hug. "Hello mother. Did you have a pleasant journey?"

"It was fine enough, dear."

"Yeah, that's great. Present."

"Ash!"

"Sorry mom."

"It's quite alright, dear. I'm sure Ashy's just a little impatient." The boy nodded. "Well, let me sit down a bit and you'll get your present, ok?" The boy nodded again rapidly and grabbed the elderly woman's hand, taking her to the living room.

"You can sit on the couch. Move old man." He pointed to Professor Oak, who just gave out a small chuckle and moved to one side.

"Oh, you're here." The elderly woman's eyes narrowed. "I should've known."

"Agatha." Professor Oak smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, yeah." Agatha waved him off.

"Mother!" Delia walked into the room, carrying a tray with a couple of glasses. "Honestly, I can see where Ash picked up bad manners." The boy glanced to the side and chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Come now, Delia." Agatha laughed. "I'm just catching up with good old Sammie, here."

"You call this catching up?" Professor Oak sweat dropped at the nickname. Suddenly Agatha's cane came out of nowhere and crashed atop his head. "Ow!"

"Sure I do, dammit!"

"Old man, stop harassing grandma."

"Atta boy, kiddo. High five." Agatha grinned at her grandson.

"Ash!" Delia bowed to the old professor in apology. "I'm very sorry about Ash, Professor Oak, but he gets impossible whenever his grandmother visits."

"That's quite alright Delia." Oak rubbed the top of his head. "It's nice to see them getting along."

"Yes, it is." Delia nodded. "Now if only she wouldn't encourage him."

"She's his grandmother; she's supposed to spoil him."

"Yes, but I get stuck dealing with the aftermath." She sighed.

Over at the grandmother-grandson duo, Ash was bouncing in excitement. Agatha grinned and brought out a Pokéball, enlarging it and handing it to the child.

Ash took the ball, looking it over. It was completely black, with one yellow line where the button was, and another smaller one on top of it.

"Is it a Pokéball?"

"It's called a Luxury Ball. It's like a normal Pokéball, only… well, luxurious." Ash titled his head in confusion. "Comfy."

"You got me a Pokéball?"

"Open it, kiddo." Ash threw it up and a small black orb surrounded by purple smoke, with large eyes and mouth with two fangs, appeared in a white beam of light.

"Gastly. Gast." It looked around, zeroing in on Ash.

"Ashy, this is a Gastly. My old Gengar recently had an egg, and this little one hatched. She agreed to give the little one to you, as your starter in a couple of years."

"Gastly." The Pokémon grinned at its new trainer, floating up and down. "Gast."

"So cool." Ash had stars in his eyes as he jumped forward, enveloping the Gastly in a tight hug.

"Gast." The Pokémon giggled, enjoying the hug.

"Now." Agatha continued. "This Gastly is female, and she's still very young, so please wait a few more weeks before starting your training." Ash nodded his head rapidly. "Now go on and play, and leave us old people here." Delia sighed, but sat on an armchair next to the couch.

Ash ran outside, the Gastly still in his arms, followed quickly by Garry.

"Well, Ashy-boy, you got yourself your first Pokémon."

"That's right. And me an' Gastly are gonna be the best." Ash pumped his fist up.

"Gast-Gastly." The Pokémon levitated next to her trainer, grinning in agreement.

"Yeah, right. You may have a Pokémon first, but I'm Garry Flippin' Oak, grandson of Professor Oak. And I'll be the greatest."

"Well, my grandma's an Elite Four member, and I'll be greatest-er than you."

"I don't think that's a word."

"Is now." Ash nodded sagely.

"Gast." Gastly agreed with her trainer.

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"Ash!" Delia yelled from the kitchen. "Ashy, honey, you'll be late." A groan was heard from upstairs, followed by a crash.

A couple of years had passed and Ash, now a teenager, was going to start his journey.

A few minutes later a sleepy Ash dressed in black shorts and a white shirt with a black cartoonish skull on it, followed by the big purple from of an equally sleepy Gengar, came down the stairs.

Over the years his Gastly had evolved, first into a Haunter, and then, about a year or so ago, into a Gengar. And she was more powerful than ever.

"Grandma, hey." Ash grinned when he saw his blonde grandmother sitting at the table, some pancakes and a cup of coffee in front of her. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"I couldn't miss your first day out all by yourself, now could I Ashy? And Gengar, my you've grown."

"Gengar." The Pokémon blushed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Oh Ash." Delia sighed. "Out on your journey." She sniffled a bit, hugging her son and his started tightly. Ash and Gengar just exchanged a look. "Now if only you'd be as polite to other people as you are to your grandmother."

"No can do mom." Ash grinned, sitting down at the table. "I have a soft spot for my Pokémon, mom and grandma. No one else." He and Gengar finished their breakfast in record time and shot up from the table, running to the door. "I'm off to go see the old man."

"Ash!"

"Huh?"

"You're not dressed." He looked down at himself to see he still wore his pajamas.

"Right." He and the ghost sweat dropped. "Back in a sec." He turned and ran to the stairs.

"And honey, try to be polite to Professor Oak."

"No promises!"

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Half an hour later the young would-be trainer finally came to the Oak Ranch, the laboratory of none other than Professor Samuel Oak. He was now dressed in his travel clothes, consisting of white jeans with black stripes on the left side, a black leather belt with six clips for Pokéballs, and a white t-shirt with a grinning black skull on it, and black sneakers on his feet.

"Hey old man." Ash and Gengar waved when they came to the professor. "How's it going?"

"Ash, my boy, is it that time already?" The elder professor looked at his watch. "You're a little late. It's a good thing you have your starter already, since all three of mine were taken."

"Yeah, that's ok. Just sign me up and we're off."

"Right, just one moment." The professor hit a few keys on his computer. "There we go; you are now an official Pokémon Trainer. Now all that's left is your Pokédex." He handed him a black metallic object. "It has all the information of Pokémon found in the Kanto region, and can also tell you the moves your Pokémon already knows, as well as those it can learn. But only yours, mind. I customized it for you." Ash nodded and pocketed the machine. "You can sign up for the league in Viridian City Pokémon Center."

"Yeah, about that. I'm planning on starting in Sinnoh, actually."

"Oh?" Oak raised an eyebrow. "May I ask why?"

"More Ghost Pokémon there than in Kanto."

"Yes, I see." The man nodded, scratching his chin in thought. "You're still set on that goal, then?"

"Yeah."

"Why not Hoenn?"

"I can find some Hoenn Pokémon in Sinnoh, but not the other way around."

"Makes sense, I suppose. Stop by Professor Rowan's lab in Sandgem Town, then, and he'll update your Pokédex. I'll call him now."

"Right. Thanks, old man."

"Oh, go on, little brat. Call me up when you get to Sinnoh." Ash and Gengar waved to the man and ran out of the lab.

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Outside, several people gathered to see him off, led by his mother carrying a 'Good Luck Ashy!' sign, and his grandmother.

"Here, honey." Delia handed him a black backpack. "I've packed everything you'll need."

"Thanks mom."

"And from your dead old grandmother." Agatha brought a small pack from behind her back. Ash opened it to see a long, dark-purple cape. "I think you'll be needing that."

"Thanks a lot grandma." He gave her a quick hug.

"Do you have your boat ticket to Sinnoh?"

"Yeah, it's right here, in my pack. Bye guys."

"Bye, Ashy. Please remember to change your you-know-whats every day."

"Right." Ash sweat dropped, walking away from his family. "Shut it you." He muttered to his snickering Gengar.

"You probably shouldn't embarrass him like that." Agatha commented as the two women watched the young teen leave.

"I know, but it's the last time I'll be able to do it in a while. Oh, my Ashy's all grown up now."

"There, there." Agatha rubbed her daughter's shoulder. "Can we go inside now? All this standing around is not good at my age."

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 **There, the first of my new Masters Series. Probably not the one you voted for, but that doesn't really matter all that much. I'll be taking it off the poll as soon as I post this chapter.**

 **This is probably going to be a pattern for most of the twenty-something stories I'm planning. Famous relative gives Pokémon years before journey, and all.**

 **Also, I'm going to include Brock, seeing as how you have to go through Pewter to get to Vermilion. And I like Brock.**

 **As for my stories, I have them randomly selected into groups of five, which I'm uploading when I finish all of them. Two groups already went, and I'm working on a third. Any new story I post will fall into rotation next time, and until then I'll be updating them as I see fit.**


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